Cal Poly football ends worst season in 53 years with shutout loss to Northern Colorado

The worst Cal Poly football season in 53 years ended with a thud Saturday in Colorado.

Northern Colorado scored four touchdowns in the second and third quarters on the way to a 42-0 win over Cal Poly (1-10, 1-7 Big Sky) at Nottingham Field in Greeley. The shutout marked the first time Cal Poly has been held scoreless since a 63-0 loss to Nevada in 1998 — a span of 217 games.

Northern Colorado sophomore and former Righetti High School quarterback Conor Regan threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns in the win. The Bears (3-7, 2-6 Big Sky) had dropped six straight before defeating Cal Poly.

Cal Poly senior fullback Jared Mohamed finished his Cal Poly career with 107 yards rushing, the eighth 100-yard game of his career. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Jeffrey completed 10 of 19 passes for 108 yards and was intercepted once as Cal Poly finished the game with 270 yards of total offense and three turnovers.

With the team in scoring position in the first quarter, slot back Malcom Davis fumbled on a pitch play on fourth and 1, leading to a turnover. The Mustangs finish the season with 16 lost fumbles, the most out of 123 teams in FCS.

The loss brought to a close the worst season in Tim Walsh’s 27-year career as a head coach. Walsh had previously never won less than three games in a season while head coach at Portland State, Sonoma State and Cal Poly. The shutout dropped Walsh’s record at Cal Poly below .500 (51-52) in his ninth season at the helm.

The only win for Cal Poly during the 2017 season was against winless Portland State.

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Cal Poly football ends worst season in 53 years with shutout loss to Northern Colorado."